Just Want To Go Home
by DontCallMeFelicity
Summary: Jessica Lauren Thomas just wants to go home, to see her family again. But when you have been thrown into an alternate universe because it is apparently your 'destiny', you don't always get that choice. Supernatural fanfic, OC.
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! Here's the first chapter from my new story!

I don't own Supernatural

* * *

From the outside, Jessica's life might have seemed perfect. Hers was a middle-class family that had never had to worry about money, Jess and her three younger sisters attended good public schools, they lived in a comfortable house in a nice area of London. Their family was stable and loving - Jess was the oldest of four sisters, and had five more younger cousins (by some strange genetic trait, all girls too) and one much older male cousin, who lived in America - she was at the top of the class in school, and outwardly there seemed to be no obvious causes for worry or unhappiness in her life.

But on the inside, Jess was not happy, and at times she hated herself for it. Hated herself for getting upset when Rebecca won a gymnastics competition and she yet again had to smile and clap as the certificate was stuck on the fridge and the trophy was placed on the mantelpiece. Hated herself for secretly wanting to steal away when Amelie came home from school filled with stories of her amazing day with all her friends that brought up memories of the truest friend she had ever had. Hated herself when she opened the door to the classroom with a sigh, knowing how many girls would be desperate to switch places with her and how much she wanted to be somewhere else. Hated herself when class rankings were read out and she was on top, once again, but everyone looked at her as though they weren't sure who she was, as though she was the new girl even though she had been at the same school since she was seven. Hated herself when she looked at the pictures and quotes and sayings and postcards stuck up on the 'Wall of Stuff' in her bedroom and saw that she was still living in the past, in that happier time when she had had the most wonderful friend on Earth.

Jess, in short, hated herself for knowing how lucky she was to lead such a privileged life, never wanting for anything, but still being unhappy.

The Thomas Family was a loud and energetic one. Jane and Adrian had been happily married for twenty years and had never wanted anyone but each other. Jane worked in the charity fundraising sector, organizing massive events to which people such as the Camerons and Helena Bonham Carter went. Even Kate and William had been to one. Adrian was an entrepreneur who worked from home: currently in the middle of setting up his own business that, according to his judgement (which was generally reliable and normally correct) had the potential to make a lot of money. They had four daughters that they loved - Jessica Lauren, the eldest, who was of medium height for her 17 years, had plain brown hair that reached just past her shoulders and was as straight as if it had been ironed, and had matching brown eyes, Rebecca Elsie, who was 12 and already nearly Jess's height, but with a more strong build due to the hours spent in the gymnasium, who had hair the same colour as Jess's but was wavy instead, reaching her shoulder blades, and eyes that were the same green as you might expect to see in a cat, Amelie Elizabeth, who was 9 and looked younger, with blonde hair that she had in an adorable bob just beneath her chin and eyes as blue as the sky, and finally Lara Rachel, who at 4 was the baby of the family as was treated as a teddy bear by many of them. She was the sort of girl you just wanted to pick up and cuddle, with hair that was a mix of blonde and brown that looked bronzed, bright hazel eyes that always seemed to be laughing and a seemingly eternal smile on her lips.

Jessica loved her sisters with all her heart and would do anything for them, but secretly she often wished that she hadn't been the eldest, that she had an older sibling whom she could trust and confide in. On top of her three sisters, she also was the eldest of all the cousins that she saw frequently - Harriet and Georgina and Rachel and Anne-Marie and Helen and Beth - and on family gatherings she always wished that Ben could be there, instead of in America. Ben was her 22-year-old cousin, and he had lived close to them for the first 9 years of her life. He had been as good as a big brother, and whenever they did see each other that dynamic remained, but he lived so far away she normally saw him only once a year. She missed the safety she had felt knowing that there was someone older and wiser than her that she could talk to.

* * *

It was a Thursday, and Jess had just come in through the school gates. A smile pulled at her mouth, even though her mood was low. Her school had been a refuge and a safe haven, nearing her own personal heaven, for six years, and some of that lingered on in the physical landscape of it. So she had to make a 45-minute coach ride every morning. For the wide grounds, the massive cedar tree, the avenue of lime trees, the lake, the lavender bushes and the majestic white-stone building that had been the home of a Duke, it had been worth it for six years.

The smile was long gone from her face by the time she had climbed two flights of stairs to the second floor and was standing outside her form room. Sighing, she pushed the door open to a familiar scene. Her class were all perfectly nice and friendly. While some of them got on Jess's nerves, none of them would ever dream of being mean. But the friendship groups were as defined as a black line on a white page. Three groups, one in each corner. There was no movement of girls in between. The groups had been the same since the first day in September, and would be the same till the last day of the summer term. And then they would come back in September. Which, while annoying, would have been fine.

If she had fit into one of the groups.

Which she didn't.

Which she never had.

Which was why, come lunch break, Jess asked her form tutor for permission to leave the grounds and went to the local library. The school had one, but the local was bigger and less crowded. The librarian smiled and nodded at Jess as she went in, as she did every lunchtime. Nodding back, Jess immediately headed for her favourite section - History. The books here were old and bound in leather and were not available to be borrowed out. Pulling one off the shelves - 'The Cold War' - that would be useful for her history coursework, Jess pulled a fountain pen and her notebook out of her bag and began to write.

* * *

In another place, dimensions apart from the quiet library where Jessica Lauren Thomas sat working on her history coursework that was not due for another month, the archangel Michael was standing in the most beautiful garden in all of creation. Next to him, in the visage of a man, stood the Father, Creator of All. In front of them was an illusion showing a large city in one of the worlds below them. As they were watching, the illusion zoomed in until, instead of the whole city, it showed one girl, sitting at a table with papers spread before her.

"She is the one," The Father said.

"Her? As you say, Father," Michael said. "Although she seems wholly unsuited to the role she must play."

"Now, yes," The Father said. "But that will change. This girl has a vital role to play. Make sure that she plays it."

"Yes, Father. I will see to it immediately."

* * *

In one of the many worlds below The Garden of Eden where the Father and the oldest archangel walked, a '67 Chevy Impala was parked outside a dark alleyway. Down that alleyway, a furious fight was going on. As it turned out, the vampires had not been as extinct as John Winchester had thought. Three vampires, most likely a hunting party from a nest. One down already, but the remaining two were stronger and it was a hard fight. Suddenly, just as Sam got a slight advantage, he heard a scream from behind him. Utilising the split-second advantage the scream gave him - the red-haired vampire paused momentarily to see what it came from - Sam decapitated it and spun around, looking for the source.

Dammit. Human girl had seen them. Well, first of all Dean needed help. Together, the brothers brought the final vampire down. Finally. Then Sam turned and cautiously began walking towards the girl. Mid-teens, at a guess. He was about 5 metres away from her when suddenly, a dark shape hurtled out of a side-alley and collided with her. Instantly Sam sprinted the remaining distance, having recognised it as another member of the hunting party. Four, not three. The girl was screaming again as Sam pulled the vampire off her. Long gashes had been torn in her side where the vampire clawed her. Dean was right behind him, so he let his brother look after the vamp and set to work trying to help the girl. He pulled off his button-down shirt and pressed it into the largest gash, trying to stop the blood. There was a lot of blood. In front of his eyes, he saw consciousness start to slip away from the mystery teenager. Suddenly, though, just as he thought she was going to go out, her weakening screams cut off and she let out a soft gasp. "Sam," she breathed, to his shock and worry. "Winchester." She seemed to be really struggling to hold on, not to fall into blackness. Her eyes focussed on his face, before slipping behind him, where he heard the triumphant grunt as Dean decapitated the vampire. "Not possible." Now Sam was really freaked out. How did this girl know his name? But her voice was no more than a whisper and with that, her eyes shut and her head rolled to the side.

"You want me to look, Sammy?" Dean said, squatting next to his brother. Sam nodded and moved to the side. "Okay," Dean muttered, removing the shirt Sam had been holding and using his knife to slash the girl's shirt away to see the lacerations in the girl's side where the vampire had hit her, "I don't think it's too bad. Nearest hospital, they'll probably pass it off as a rabid dog attack. We can..." he was going to continue, but Sam cut him off.

"I don't think we should call an ambulance." Dean looked at him, confusion written in his face. It was, after all, what they normally did if there was a human that could be saved. Call an ambulance, disappear before it arrived. "She knows me." That wiped off the confusion and replaced it with worry.

"What?"

"She knew my name. It was all she said. She looked at me and said 'Sam Winchester,' and then saw you and said "Not possible." Then she went out." Dean nodded, understanding.

"In that case, we need to talk to her. Check she's not a demon." Sam yanked a silver knife out of his belt and slashed a shallow cut on her arm, before rubbing some salt onto her skin. Neither provoked any reaction from the unconscious girl. "Right, so we find a motel, patch her up and wait for her to come around. Simple. There's a motel just around the corner I think. Go book us a room, Sammy? One is fine, she's not gonna be staying." Sam nodded again before standing straight and striding around the corner.


	2. Chapter 2

And here's Chapter 2! I still don't own Supernatural

* * *

Jess came around slowly. The first thing she was aware of was pain in her chest. Then she realised that the lights were too bright. Far, far too bright. She tried to raise a hand to block them, only to find that she couldn't move it. Squinting her eyes, she saw two dark figures in the otherwise bright room. She started to remember. There had been an alley - Sam and Dean, but that was impossible, they were fictional, so Jensen and Jared then - something had leapt on her... her vision came into focus and she saw the two tall men standing next to the bed that she seemed to be tied down on. Jess tugged her wrists. Yes, tied down. "Can you let me up, please?" she asked, knowing that it was a stupid question. They weren't going to tie her up just to let her go as soon as she asked.

"Just as soon as we know that you're not dangerous." Jensen said in a threatening voice.

"What?" Jess's forehead furrowed. "How could I be dangerous?" Jensen laughed.

"You know Sam's name even though he's never seen you in his life but not what might make you dangerous? Either you are a very stupid demon, spirit, whatever you are, or ... I don't know what you are."

"But...I got it wrong, didn't I?" Jess tugged at the restraints again. They were very uncomfortable. "You're not really Dean Winchester, you're Jensen Ackles. And you," she turned her head so that she was looking at the other man, "you're not really Sam, you're Jared Pade..." but she trailed off seeing the looks on their faces.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jensen said, getting off the bed he had been sitting on and walking closer, until he was towering over her. Jess started to piece things together in her head, desperately not wanting the result to be true.

"Please. Please say that you're really Jensen, that you're actors and I haven't been..." she stopped, unable to admit the possibility out loud.

"You think I'm an actor," Jensen/Dean said disbelievingly. "You need to tell us what's going on, right now." Jess nodded. If she was right about what had happened, she needed help reversing it.

"Please let me up?" she asked tentatively. Jensen/Dean looked across at Jared/Sam, who thought about it for a second before he nodded and released her hands from the ropes that had bound them to the bed. He left her feet though, and she didn't try and free them. "I think..." she gathered her resolve, before taking the plunge, "I think I've been somehow transported to another universe." Jess looked nervously up at the two men. It sounded ridiculous even to her. And just as she expected, Jensen/Dean let out a dry chuckle.

"Pull the other one, British Girl," he said. "Now tell us what's really happened." Annoyed that her accent had stood out so much - Jess had been teased in her school about having a 'posh' voice - Jess shook her head.

"I really think that that is what's happened." Jensen/Dean was obviously about to interrupt, but she said quickly "please let me try and explain." He nodded, and Jess took a deep breath. "I was in the local library in London, researching the Cold War for my coursework. It was about halfway through lunch and suddenly there was this wind, even though we were indoors, this really strong wind and everything began to spin. Then it all settled and I was in a library, but it wasn't the one that I had been in a minute ago. And when I walked out onto the street it was a different street. And then I saw..." she blushed a little, "I saw the Impala and...recognised it, so I went a bit closer to have a look and I heard shouts down the alley so I went to see what was going on and...I guess you know from there. But in my world, Supernatural is a television show about Dean and Sam Winchester, who fight demons and other, well, supernatural stuff. And wait," she looked directly at Dean, needing to prove that this was true, needing them to believe her, "I bet that when you were four your mother died. And that the house burnt down as you ran out holding Sam, who was only a baby. I bet," looking now at Sam, "that you are quite recently back from Stanford, where you had a girlfriend called Jess, but Dean needed you to come back on the hunter's road because..." Jess wracked her brain but came up with a blank. "I can't remember that bit. But please, you have to help me!"

The two men looked stunned to say the least. Neither of them had seen this girl before, but she was claiming to have watched their lives as if they were a television program! It was beyond comprehension. Sam thought carefully. They still weren't sure that this girl wasn't some sort of supernatural trick. They also knew nothing about her, however much she knew about them. "Okay, little girl," he said slowly, and was dismayed when suddenly she sniffed and pressed a thumb under each eye in an attempt to stop herself from crying. "Hey, don't cry, um...what's your name?"

"Jessica," she said into her hands. "Jessica Lauren Thomas, and I have three younger sisters and I need to be back in class by the end of lunch or I'll get a late mark."

"Okay, Jessica," Dean said, sitting down on the bed. "We need to make a call. Stay there."

Sam chucked Dean his mobile. Dean walked over to the other side of the room, holding the mobile to his ear, while Sam tried to calm Jessica down as she was working herself up. "Hey, Jessica...can I call you Jessie?" She shook her head.

"Jess," she muttered, "not Jessie." Sam nodded.

"Okay Jess, we'll get this sorted. Just need to see what Dad says."

Meanwhile, Dean was trying to explain the situation to a worried John.

"No, sir, as far as I can tell she's no demon. Salt, silver, holy water, we did all the tricks. She seems to be human s'far as I can tell. Yeah, she says that she's from some kinda alternate universe. Yes sir, I will do. See you there." He hung up. "Dad says we're going to meet at Bobby's. Stop following the nest and just get there. You're coming too," he directed at Jess. "Dad wants to talk to you." Jess mentally shuddered. Not having known about Supernatural for long, she was basing her knowledge on what her only friend, Ivy, had told her in one of her fangirl sessions. And from what she could remember, John Winchester had been in the military and was as scary as hell.

"Okay," she said shakily, still trying to convince herself that the pain in her chest was all an elaborate ruse and that Ivy was watching this and laughing...although how she had got such famous actors to play along... "Do you know Ivy Blake?" Sam just shook his head.

"No, but we need to get going," Dean said. "Dad wants us at Bobby's by tomorrow. And sorry about this," he looked at Jess, not seeming very sorry at all, "but he said to keep you in handcuffs." Sam rolled his eyes and started to protest, but Dean cut him off. "That's what Dad said." Jess nodded slowly, trying to suppress the tears that were starting to gather. She couldn't cry. It was weak and pathetic and she hadn't cried for three years. Silently, she put her wrists towards Dean. No, she told herself, not Dean. Jensen. But her mind would not obey her. Dean strode over to a duffel bag that was lying on the floor and pulled out a pair of silver handcuffs, before snapping them over her wrists. Sam then pulled the ropes away from her ankles. "We need to be gone in five, Sammy," Dean said, pulling the ropes off the bed and chucking them into the duffel bag.

* * *

It was silent in the car. Jess was sitting in the back, hands still cuffed together, and Sam and Dean were in the front. Dean was driving. The light outside was slowly fading, pulling back over the horizon until everything was dark and the only lights were the ones on the dashboard. The two men had talked for the first half an hour, but had gradually fallen silent. Jess wasn't even sure Sam was awake any more.

Now that she had time to think, Jess found herself unable to hold herself together as well. Ivy couldn't have arranged this. She was in America, and they had been driving too long for her to be on some kind of set. However much she told herself that the men in front of her were Jensen and Jared, she couldn't quite bring herself to believe it. With nothing to distract her but the sound of the engine, Jess found thoughts that she didn't want welling up inside her brain. It did no good, she tried to tell herself, to think that Ivy would have been so much better in this situation. It did no good to think about what her family would think when she never returned home from school. It did no good to wonder when she would see Becca and Millie and Lala again. It did no good to wish that she had listened more carefully when Ivy was expounding at great length on the entire storyline of Supernatural.

Trying to stay silent so that Dean wouldn't notice, Jess pressed her eyes to her wrists to try and stop the tears, futilely reminding herself of the resolution she had made three years ago never to cry. But she couldn't stop them. Her situation seemed pretty dire. Stuck in what seemed to be an alternate universe where demons and vampires and werewolves and who knows what else were real, with two men that in her world were actors but didn't seem to be here, driving towards Bobby Singer's house to face John Winchester and try and explain what even she didn't understand. However hard she tried, though, she couldn't stop the soft clink of metal as she moved her wrists, and she saw Dean glance back at her in the mirror. "Sorry," she said so softly that she wasn't sure he had even heard her, turning her face to look out of the window.

"You should try and get some sleep, Jess," he said gruffly. "We've got a long way to go still."

"I can't," Jess said. "I just can't. Not now." Dean nodded as though her understood, before putting on some music. The quiet tape filled the silence as the Impala sped towards Bobby's house, Jess staring out of the window and trying her best not to think. What must have been several hours later, as the sky was beginning to lighten, Dean broke the silence by shaking Sam's shoulder.

"Sam! Sammy! Wake up." Sam raised his head slowly, pushing his long hair off his face.

"Wassamatter, Dean?" he asked voice layered with sleep.

"Drive. I'm tired," Dean said in reply, as he pulled over to the side of the deserted road. The two switched sides. "I'm going to sleep. Wake me when we get there," he instructed. Sam nodded and started down the road again. Within minutes Dean was asleep.

"You not going to sleep, Jess?" Sam asked. Unlike Dean his voice was laced with sympathy. She shook her head.

"I can't," she said quietly. "Too much to think about." Plus she couldn't let herself relax enough to sleep. This wasn't the time to be weak, and she was weak when she relaxed, let the barriers she set in her mind fall away. Sam was quiet for a second.

"Do you want to talk?" he asked softly after a few minutes. "It might help." Slightly surprised at this offer of help when they still weren't apparently convinced she wasn't dangerous, Jess thought for a second before she nodded. "So you said that you have sisters," Sam offered as a start to the conversation. Jess nodded again.

"Yes, three. Rebecca, Amelie and Lara. They're all younger than me." She could see in the mirror that a smile was pulling at the corner of Sam's mouth.

"So you're the eldest, just like Dean. How protective are you of them?"

"Very. But they don't need my protection, so I don't think they know that. If I thought anyone was hurting them or upsetting them I would be furious, but they're all very happy with everything." A series of images flashed across her mind's eye - Rebecca standing on a podium with a gold medal around her neck and a trophy in her hands, Amelie heading out to the cinema with her many friends on a Friday night, Lara being cuddled by their mum with a laughing smile on her face. "They don't need me," she said again, quieter this time.

"Tell me about them," Sam said quietly. "You obviously love them a lot."

"I would do anything for them," Jess said. I do do anything for them, a voice in her mind said, reminding her of all the times her own wants, needs, plans and activities had been pushed to the side because they clashed with her sisters'. "Rebecca's 12. She's amazing at gymnastics and is really dedicated. She's the best in her year by far. She's basically as tall as me," which isn't hard, she thought but didn't say. "Amelie's 9. She's just got this aura, this talent, where everyone likes her and wants to be her friend. Even teachers. She's got the most infectious smile and laugh I've ever seen. Lara - well, Lara's just the baby. She's 4, has just started Reception. She is the cuddliest girl ever - you just can't resist picking her up and hugging her."

"And what about you?" Sam asked, eyes briefly connecting with hers in the mirror. "What are you like?"

"Me? I'm just...me," Jess said, finding it hard to think of something interesting to say about herself. "I'm 17. I'm taking History, Religious Studies, English, Maths, Latin and Greek at school."

"You look younger than that," Sam commented. Jess shrugged. It was true - being a lot smaller than the average girl her age had plenty of disadvantages. "Isn't that a lot of subjects to be taking?" Sam asked, trying to remember how the British educational system worked. "I thought you only normally took three subjects at 17?"

"Normally, yes," Jess mumbled, staring out of the window. "But I have enough time to do six, and it will help me get a job."

"What do you do out of school?"

"Er... mainly just read, to be honest," Jess said, still staring out of the window. "I tried to do some extra-curricular, but I don't have my driver's licence ye and Mum and Dad were always too busy looking after my sisters to take me anywhere. Doing extra subjects means that I have a lot of work that I need to do, as well. I pretty much had to be self-sufficient from when I was five. Mum and Dad both work really hard, and whenever they aren't in the office they're taking Becca, Millie or Lala to playdates or activities or clubs. There wasn't time for me to develop many interests after Becca was born." There was a silence for a few minutes. Then,

"So you like researching stuff?" Sam picked up on. Jess smiled.

"I love academia in general. Finding things out, taking a question and finding the answer. Especially if nobody's been able to find the answer before. You..." she broke off, her cheeks flushing slightly, although nobody could see that in the dark, "You like research too, don't you?" Sam nodded.

"Yeah, I do. I kinda have to, Dean doesn't like it much and it's pretty essential in our line of work." Jess flexed her wrists slightly, trying to alleviate some of the discomfort. Sam saw what she was doing. "I'm sorry about those. Dad said you had to have them. I don't think you're dangerous, but we don't know that yet for sure. And Dean always does what Dad says." Jess nodded.

"It's ok. Um, Sam," she said nervously, "will your Dad be..." she broke off, unable to think of the best way to phrase her question. Sam understood though.

"I'm sorry, Jess. You seem real nice. But yeah, he probably will be. You're claiming to be something we've never seen before, and we've seen most things between us and Dad. He's gonna have to be 110% certain that you're not dangerous before he even starts to think about believing you. And it takes a lot to make sure that he doesn't think you can be dangerous. I'm honestly sorry." Jess nodded, trying not to think about what John Winchester might have to do before he was sure that she was not dangerous. She had watched several episodes of Supernatural with Ivy, and she knew that guns and knives were tools of this man's trade.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3! I still, unfortunately, do not own Supernatural

* * *

By the time that they neared Bobby Singer's house, the sun had broken over the horizon and was bathing the countryside in light. Jess's hands had pins and needles and she was pretty terrified as to what was going to happen to her. Sam pulled the car up outside a house that was vaguely familiar from the Supernatural Jess had watched. Bobby's. Sam roused Dean, who had woken up once during the second half of the drive. "We're here," Dean told Jess. "Don't talk unless you are asked a question." He and Sam then got out of the car. Sam thoughtfully opened Jess's door, since it was hard to do it when your hands were cuffed together. She walked behind the Winchester brothers to the front door, which opened soon after she knocked to reveal Bobby, fully dressed and ready for action even on this early hour. "Bobby," Dean greeted him

"Boys. So this is it?" he looked at Jess. "I guess you all should come on in." Sam went first, then Jess, then Dean, who seemed unwilling to let her out of his sight for a second. Bobby led them over to a table, which had four chairs on one side and one on the other. "John should be here any minute," he said, gesturing Sam and Dean into two of the chairs on one side of the table and somewhat roughly grabbing Jess's arm and pulling her over to the single chair. There he pushed her down onto it and proceeded to tie her securely to it. It took all Jess's self-control not to struggle. She had to show these people that she was telling the truth, and that meant letting them prove to themselves that she was not dangerous. "Shall we do the salt, silver, holy water?" Bobby suggested. "John's not going to mind missing that." Dean nodded.

"We did do them on her while she was unconscious yesterday, but it can't hurt to do them again." He stood up and walked over to a nearby dresser, picking up a vial of water and handing it to Bobby, along with a silver blade that had been concealed on his belt. The older man took them and stepped towards Jess.

"If you're human, this will hurt a bit," Bobby said dangerously. "If you're not, this will hurt a lot." Jess took as deep a breath as she could with the restraints around her, before nodding minutely.

"Okay," she said, trying and failing to make her voice louder than a whisper. "Okay." First, Bobby pushed her head to the side, exposing one side of her neck, and brought the blade up to it. Jess shivered slightly when she felt the cold silver press against her neck at first, but didn't try and pull away. A thin slice of pain ran across her neck, making her gasp, and she felt blood seep out through the cut. Bobby removed the knife and looked at her coldly, as she flinched away from the pain in her neck. Several seconds passed before he nodded quickly and tossed the knife down on the table. Without warning, he stabbed a syringe into her leg and pressed all the contents - holy water, Jess thought as she tried to stifle the gasp of pain and surprise - into her body. Once the water was all gone and Bobby pulled the needle out, she took several deep breaths before raising her head, only to have a handful of salt rubbed over her shoulder. Finally Bobby seemed satisfied and sat down next to the brothers.

"Well, I guess now we just wait for John" Bobby said. As soon as he had finished the sentence there was a banging on the door. "Speak of the Devil," he muttered as he stood up again and strode over to the door, opened it and let the renowned hunter in. John Winchester was an imposing figure to say the least. The way he carried himself showed the military life he had led and his rugged face was stern. "John," Bobby greeted him.

"Bobby," the eldest Winchester replied. "Dean, Sam. So this is it?" Jess felt a twinge of annoyance at continually being referred to as 'it'.

"My name is Jessica," she said, very quietly. John gave a humourless laugh.

"I don't care what your name is. I care what you are and where you came from." He strode forwards and sat in a chair facing her. "Tell me."

"I am a human." It felt like a strange thing to say, but she needed to confirm it. "Until yesterday I thought that the existence of all supernatural things was just a myth, a legend. I come from London."

"Could have guessed that much. How did you get here?"

"I don't know." Jess tried to look the man in the eye, but his cold stare was intimidating and dangerous and she found herself looking at the floor instead.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way. How did you get here?"

"I don't know. I was in the library in London and there was suddenly a strange wind that got stronger and stronger. Then the world started spinning and when I can see straight it turns out that I am in the middle of America with people that in my world are actors in a television program."

"A television program." John's voice was incredulous. "You don't actually expect me to believe that."

"It's the truth. It's called Supernatural. It is rated 15 and is on CW. My friend Ivy is a massive fan, and from her I know that you used to be in the military, your wife was called Mary and she was killed by a demon with yellow eyes, Dean was 4 when it happened and Sam has recently come back from Stanford where he had a girlfriend called Jess." John stood up.

"Enough already. Is that cut from a silver knife?" he asked Bobby.

"Yeah, and we did holy water and salt too."

"So you're not a demon. I don't want to torture you in case you really are human. Guess the only thing we can do is keep you on lockdown here until we find out what the hell you are and what to do with you. Bobby, can you take care of it with the boys? I left in the middle of a hunt, need to get back."

"Sure." John nodded, clapped his sons on the shoulder and strode out again. Seconds later, the rumble of an engine started up and then faded as John drove away. Tentatively, Jess looked at the men remaining in the room. Bobby was eying her suspiciously, Dean was looking at her with open mistrust and Sam was the only one with any type of compassion on his face.

"Um...could you let me up?" she asked nervously, twisting her wrists slightly in the cuffs that still bound them together. Sam came over and released them, keeping one hand on her shoulder as she stood up.

"Thanks," she said. Annoyingly, everyone in the room was far taller than her, and she was mainly still wearing school uniform, except for the shirt she had been lent - hers had been far too torn to wear. It made her feel about five, especially next to Sam. "Um..."

"Take her down to the panic room," Bobby instructed. "She'll stay there until we know exactly what she is." Jess was relieved that she was no longer being referred to as 'it', but the prospect of staying locked down was very uninviting.

"Please, I promise that I'm not going to hurt any of you," she said. "I'm just as confused as all of you, all I want is to go home." Bobby looked calculatingly at her before nodding.

"Fine. She can have the spare bedroom. Dean, will you take her up? Sam and I'll start the research."

"Sure." Dean strode over and grabbed Jess's arm, half-dragging her towards the stairs. Jess did her best to keep up, but Dean was relentless, not even letting go as she tripped and stumbled up the stairs. Down the corridor, and he pulled her into one of the rooms. It was clearly, from the few possessions already scattered around, not the room she was going to be staying in. "Just to let you know," Dean said, shoving her so that she fell onto one of the beds, where she righted herself quickly but didn't stand up, "I don't trust you one bit. So I'm gonna do all the tests I know on you, and you're going to let me if you want to stay alive."

Then proceeded a slightly painful and very uncomfortable half-hour, in which Dean first of all cut her with several knifes and made her swallow a few things, before sitting on the other bed, holding his gun loosely in one hand, and grilling her for any inconsistencies in the story that she had given them. Finally he seemed satisfied, and instead of dragging her up offered her one hand, which she took, and pulled her up. "Still don't know what to think of you, but you're human, at least," he said, walking out of the room and gesturing for her to follow. "Sorry about that. But you know, with this life..."

"You have to be careful. I get it." Jess smiled tentatively, and was pleased when it was returned. Most of the danger and warning had left Dean's face now. He pushed open a different door, this one to a tiny room with one single bed that easily took up most of the room.

"This is your room, while you're here," Dean said. "Sit down, wait a minute. I'll be back." He then went out again. Shrugging to herself, Jess lowered herself carefully onto the bed. Her side was aching and really was very painful, but she had resolved not to complain. Sam had bandaged it quickly before they left to go down to Bobby's, and she was sure that he would have said something once John had left if it had really needed medical attention. It would just be a bit sore for a while.

Almost exactly a minute later, Dean came back into the room, holding a first aid kit. Jess's eyes widened slightly. She was glad that Dean had decided to place a bit of trust in her, but seeing that she wasn't in pain hadn't been something that she had expected him to do.

"I'm gonna do this the way I do it with Sammy," Dean announced, placing one hand on her shoulder and pushing slightly until Jess got the message and lay down flat. "I need to check those cuts, there's nothing else to it, so we'll do this my way." Jess nodded, blushing deep red. Sure, she knew a fair amount more about Dean than he did about her, but she was the girl here, and for him to check the cuts would mean that she would have to take her borrowed shirt off. She steeled herself and unbuttoned it, looking anywhere but Dean. It made it easier not to see his face.

Then she felt the coldness of a blade on her skin. Jess tensed, but relaxed when it didn't cut her, but the bandages, which had nearly turned completely red.

Jess didn't think she'd ever been so glad that she'd worn a sports bra that showed nothing of her chest.

Dean made a noise under his breath, before fishing a strip of rubber out of the kit and passing it to her. "Bite on this," he said. Tensing - she knew enough that being told to bit on something meant that pain was imminent- Jess did as she was told. Sure enough, Dean poured alcohol onto the cuts, making her yell through the rubber.

"I'm sorry about this, Jess. Gotta do it though," Dean said, as he carefully prodded the lacerations before wrapping them in clean bandages. Then he gave her a few tablets and a glass of water, instructing her to swallow. Once it was done she looked at Dean gratefully.

"Thanks," she said, smiling.

"Don't worry. I'm gonna go and see Sam and Bobby. Come down in a bit if you feel like it."

* * *

"Oh!" Jess could not help the small gasp as Bobby showed her his library. While it had far fewer books than a normal library - it was probably about the amount on her bookshelf at home, which was admittedly a very large bookshelf - the books were beautiful. All bound with leather and with intricate lettering, it was obvious just from looking that all the books were very valuable. Sam chuckled as she ran a single finger down the spine of the nearest one, probably remembering what she had said in the car about research. "They're amazing," she said to Bobby, who looked slightly gratified.

"Takes a long time to get a library like this. Most of these books are one of a kind. Worth more than the rest of the house put together."

* * *

**One hour later.**

Jess was sitting on the bed in Bobby's spare room, looking out of the window. She had offered to help with the research, but Dean had shot her down, saying that she wouldn't understand the books anyway so it would be a waste.

**Two hours later.**

Jess heard bursts of laughter from downstairs. Creeping to the top of the stairs, from where she could see the men, Jess saw them with glasses in their hands, Bobby pouring some kind of drink into them. Still the books lay open, but less attention was being paid to them.

**Three hours later.**

Dusk was starting to fall. Jess crept downstairs, unable to remain in the bedroom any longer. No attention was paid to her. Unnoticed, she slipped out of the door and sat on the porch steps, soaking in the warmth that she had so rarely felt in England, looking at the dust patterns that rose in the air when she scuffed her school shoe in the dirt. The black leather that had been so polished and shiny only two days ago was now dirty and brown with dust. Absently she let the one of the sleeves on her borrowed shirt fall over her hand and rubbed a small circle clean.

**One hour later.**

Jess was still on the porch, although it was colder now and she had her arms loosely wrapped around herself to keep warm. Her back was leant against the wood and her eyes were fixed on nothing, staring into the distance. Suddenly she heard a shout from inside and she jumped up, pushing the door open and hurrying in just in time to see Sam jump down the stairs two at a time, a look of worry on his face that contorted into anger when he saw Jess at the door. "Jess! You don't go anywhere without telling somebody. Not in this world. Do you hear me?" He was right in front of her, glaring down from his considerable height, one hand clutching her arm roughly. Jess nodded, realizing that it had been a silly thing to do.

"Sorry, Sam. I was just out on the porch," she said. He nodded.

"You want to do that again, you tell one of us first, Jess. Anything could've got you."

* * *

It was four in the morning. Outside all was dark. Inside all was dark. Outside all was quiet.

Inside, Jess was crying.

It had been around half an hour since she had woken up from a nightmare, screaming into the pillow. In her dream, she had been stuck in this world, but someone else from her old world had been catapulted through as well. Someone that Jess never let herself think about when she was awake, though she couldn't stop the dreams when she was asleep. Now she was trying her best to control the tears running down her face, hating herself for letting the weakness win, gripping the beaded bracelet around her wrist so tightly that the silver parts were digging into her hand and leaving behind small red marks. The bracelet was one that she never took off, it kept her grounded. It was as much a part of her as her hair and had been for three years. Within a few minutes she had stopped the flow of tears.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Quickly wiping away the traces of tears and hoping that it was too dark for anyone to be able to see that she was crying, Jess slid off the bed and opened the door of her bedroom. Sam stood there, still fully dressed, concern written all over his face. "You alright, Jessica?" he asked. "Bad dream?" She nodded. "You want to - talk about it?" Jess was slightly taken aback by how understanding and helpful Sam was being.

"Not really," she said. She never let herself talk about...that person. She rarely even let herself think about her. Sam looked around, running a hand across his face.

"You...you wear that bracelet to bed as well?" he had apparently been about to say something else before the blue and white beads caught his eye.

"Yes." Jess answered stonily, trying her best to convey that the subject was not up for discussion.

"Why?" Sam had apparently not gotten the message.

"I don't want to talk about it." Jess could practically hear the icicles hanging from her words.

"Well..." Sam stood awkwardly there, trying not to look down at her but not really able to help it with the difference of around a foot between their heights. "I'm next door, okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks." Jess could tell that Sam had seen the evidence of her tears by the awkward look on his face as he turned and went back into his room, but she just shut the door, covered herself in the blanket and turned her face to the wall, trying to shut off all her thoughts and juts exist until morning came.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4, and this is a really short one. Just setting up for the next part. Hope you enjoy it! I still don't own Supernatural

* * *

One month later...

"Nothing? At all?"

"Jess, I told you. There's nothing. We've looked everywhere, asked everyone. We can't do anything anymore."

"Oh." Jess clamped her fingers down on the web of skin in between her index finger and thumb, a trick she had learnt long ago to hold tears back. "Well." She didn't know what to say anymore. "I'll...I'll go and pack then." Turning around she made her way quickly up the stairs and into the bedroom that had been hers for a month. She couldn't bear to see Dean's half-sympathetic, half-annoyed face. Jess just needed to be alone.

Once she was in the small, familiar room, Jess let herself fall onto the bed and bury her face in the pillow, crying like she hadn't in three years. This wasn't a few, controlled tears when she couldn't hold them in anymore, but sobs which wracked her whole body. She cried her heart out for the life that now seemed to be forever beyond her reach, for her sisters and family, for Ivy, for her future which was now, at best, bleak. The sobs wracked her body and she let them shake her, not holding them back or fighting them anymore. Three years' worth of frustrations and grievances were cried out along with the grief for her old life.

After ten minutes, Jess heard the distinct click of the door and hastily dragged a sleeve across her face, tugged a hand through her hair and wiped her face again before looking up. By that time, Sam was already sitting down on the bed and putting an arm around her shoulders. Jess let herself lean into the support, let herself indulge in the weakness it represented, before pulling herself together and sitting back, pulling her knees up in front of her chest.

"Hey Sam," she said, voice rough from the crying.

"Jess," Sam replied, passing a hand over his face. "Jessie -"

"Just Jess," she reminded him quickly. Not Jessie, never Jessie.

"Sorry. Jess, I promise we'll keep trying. I promise. But -"

"I understand." And she did. Jess understood that the Winchesters needed to get back to their jobs, that she'd already been imposing on Bobby too much. "I'll be fine, Sam. Don't worry about me, okay?"

"I can't not worry! Jess, how can you say that I shouldn't worry about you when you're stuck in a universe that isn't your own, away from everyone that you've ever known, with nothing? Dean just told you that we couldn't find a way to get you back yet, and already -" Sam broke off, and Jess was glad momentarily, before her heart sank as he gathered his resolve. "No, it needs to be said. Already you don't look any different to how you did yesterday, as though nothing big has happened. Why, Jess? You've been here a month now, I've noticed a few things. Why don't you ever talk about your life, why don't you ever, ever take that bracelet off, why are you so good at hiding what you feel, why have you not cried once apart from now and that first night, why don't you let any of us mean anything to you?"

Jess cursed internally. Damn Sam for being so perceptive.

"I'll be fine, Sam, and as for the rest of it, it's none of your business." Jess knew that she was being unnecessarily cold to Sam, who'd done his best to help her over the past month, but she wouldn't, couldn't, discuss this anymore. "I've made some mistakes in my life, I've done some things wrong. Why do you need to know about it when you won't ever see me again after tomorrow?" At that, Jess stood up and turned her back on Sam, picking up a few of the clothes that Bobby had bought her. As soon as she had earned some money, Jess was going to make sure she repaid him for his hospitality. She heard Sam sigh behind her, before he stood up.

"We will see each other again, Jess. I know we will. And you know my number. Call me if you need anything. Or you just want to talk." Jess nodded tightly, and then Sam was gone.


	5. Chapter 5

This is set two years after Dean and Sam send Jess on her way, and things have been pretty rubbish for her in those two years. Please review! I don't own Supernatural.

* * *

**Two years later.**

Jess stood behind the bar, pulling her mousy hair into her customary two plaits and mentally steeling herself for the night to come. She hated her job at the bar with a vengeance, but needed the money it provided for even the most basic of things, such as food and soap.

When the clock hands reached 7, she unlocked the door.

As always, it took several hours for the crowds to arrive. But once they were there, the bar was a hell for Jess, filled with sleazy men trying to chat her up, people playing pool and drinking until they were so inebriated that they couldn't walk straight, and Mandy, the other girl behind the bar, who was perfectly nice but also a slut. Dealing with it all as best she could, Jess endured the night, until finally, at 3, she got the last drunks out and locked the door. Mandy had disappeared long ago, and was probably in a motel somewhere doing things that would make the neighbours complain. Sighing as she let her hair down, attempted to rub some of the abject exhaustion out of her eyes, and began to clean up the filthy bar, Jess wondered if she would ever get out of this horrible new life.

The answer was probably not. Nothing had surfaced in regard to her being thrown into another universe. She hadn't heard from Sam, Dean or any other hunters since she had left Bobby's.

Once the bar was respectable again, it was already 6 on Saturday morning. Jess only had five hours before she was due in the diner for her shift. She fully intended to spend the majority of that time sleeping. Stumbling up the back stairs to the room that she shared with Mandy, Jess loosened the uniform without bothering to take it off as she fell onto her narrow, uncomfortable bed. In all respects, sleep should have come fast, but since she arrived in this world, sleep had never come easily. Instead, she was forced to lie awake as her mind ran over painful memories, and when she finally did fall asleep, it was uneasily, tossed around by nightmares.

At 10 her alarm rang. Jess opened her eyes sluggishly and moaned, hitting the alarm randomly until it stopped. Looking at the wall clock and seeing that it really was 10 and that Mandy hadn't changed her alarm for a joke, Jess tore herself out of bed and stumbled around exhaustedly, changing into her diner uniform, washing, tying her hair back up. By 10.40 she was locking up and walking like a zombie down the road, pulling her tiredness and wretchedness behind her protective walls as she walked, until she looked as she always did – normal, if guarded, wary and uninviting.

"Hey Jessie!" one of the girls said as she came in. Jess shot them a killer glare, staring them down as the girl giggled and hesitated before turning back to the counter she was serving. No matter how many times she said it, Amelia insisted on calling her Jessie. It annoyed the crap out of her and never failed to sour her normally bad mood even further.  
"Morning, Jess. You look tired," another girl, Sash, said. Sash was probably the girl that Jess was most likely to have been friends with if she let herself have friends. As it was, it was nice to have someone who accepted how Jess was and was friendly anyway.  
"Yeah, late night. Mandy abandoned me," Jess said, smiling. Sash was Mandy's little sister – a year or so younger than Jess, who was three younger than Mandy.  
"Sorry about that," Sash grimaced.  
"Hey, not your fault." With that, Jess clocked in and began working.

It was 3 when she noticed the first thing that had her heart leaping into her throat. She was in the kitchen, placing an order, when Sash dropped a plate.

"Oh, _Christ,_" Sash moaned, dropping to her knees as she began to clean it up. She was saying other things, but none of them registered with Jess, who had distinctly seen one of the waiters flinch, not at the crash, but at Sash's words that had followed it. Jess had been doing a bit of research of her own in her very limited spare time, trying to find anything that could help her, and one of the things she had learnt was how to identify a demon.

Maybe Christ was close enough to Christo.

Shaking herself out of that train of thought, Jess told herself firmly that there was no reason that there would be a demon working at her diner – and that that was up there with the strangest sentences she had ever said or thought. Still, for the rest of the day, Jess couldn't help noticing little things that had her heart pounding in her chest.

The way that both the waiter who had flinched and Amelia seemed to be overly careful when they picked up the salt shakers, and never cleaned tables where salt had been spilled, instead asking someone else to do it, inventing an excuse.

How whenever they were around when someone said 'God' or 'Christ', they would flinch, almost imperceptibly if you weren't looking for it.

How sometimes she would see them having a fast, anxious discussion in a corner, talking too low for anybody else to hear them.

By the end of her shift, Jess was thoroughly spooked. She almost ran out and down the road towards the pub.

But it didn't get any better. Now that she was noticing, it seemed that she was seeing demons everywhere – she had almost convinced herself that she had seen one of the boys delivering things for the pub roll his eyes to utter black for a second.

But it wasn't until the bar opened that she was sure of herself. Having become paranoid, she secretly shook some salt into the beer, not enough to really be tasted, but enough.

When the first regulars, who had been coming for around six months, had their first round of drinks, they all took one sip and started choking. Jess panicked, not knowing what to do. Then they recovered and one of them smiled at her.

"Beer's a bit salty tonight, love."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Jess said, trying not to show how distraught she really was. "Here, let me get you new ones. Hopeful they'll be better." Once all of them had new, clean beers, Jess told Mandy – who had reappeared several minutes before the bar opened looking as though she'd been having sex all night and all morning as well – that she had to go back for a bit. Mandy began to complain. "Mandy, I cleaned up last night," Jess reminded her. Grudgingly, Mandy nodded, and Jess ran into her room, dialling Sam as fast as she possibly could.

The phone rang three times before it was answered.

"Hello?" Sam's voice was familiar and Jess could hear the rumble of the Impala's engine and the beat of Dean's rock music in the background.

"Sam, it's me, it's Jess. You have to help me," she said, choking on her words.

"This isn't funny. I don't care who you are, you have not right to be insulting Jess's memory…" Sam began.

"No, no! Not that Jess! Jessica Thomas, I was with you for a month two years ago, you couldn't get me home!" Normally Jess wouldn't have been able to help stumbling over the last sentence, but her panic was overriding everything.

"Oh! You! Jess, what's wrong?"

"Sam, demons, they're everywhere, I can't get away from them, they're watching me! Amelia and the patrons and the delivery boy…" Jess was fast approaching hyperventilation.

"Calm down. Jess, deep breaths. Come on, breathe." Slowly Jess slowed her breaths. "Alright, tell me what happened."

"I was working – in the diner – Sash dropped a plate and shouted Christ, one of the other waiters flinched away, and since then I've been seeing them everywhere, avoiding the salt, I swear the delivery boy had black eyes, and just now I put some salt in the patron's drinks and they all choked and said it was very salty, but there was barely any!"

"Where are you?"

"All Saints. Arkansas."

"Dean, All Saints," Sam said, not into the phone receiver. There was talking from Dean, too muffled to make out. "Later, Dean. Okay, Jess, we're not far, luckily. We should be there in an hour, two tops. Now, here's what you have to do." Following Sam's instruction, Jess used Mandy's spray-on hair dye to draw a Devils Trap in front of the door, before covering it with a rug. "Now you stay in that room. Don't come out, whatever happens. What's the address?" Jess gave him the pub's address quickly. Then she heard footsteps on the stairs and rang off. Quickly she thought up an excuse.

Scrambling onto her bed, she curled into a ball and started breathing very quickly and shallowly, mimicking a panic attack. Both Mandy and Pandora, the other girl who worked at the bar on weekends, knew that she had them sometimes, and neither of them ever bothered to stay long enough to see one through. It should buy her half an hour unquestioned.

Sure enough, the door swung open and Jess could tell by the voice that shouted "Jess get your ass…" that it was Pandora. "Oh, crap," the voice continued. "Stupid panic attack. Come down as soon as you can, Jess." The door swung shut again and Jess sat up, relieved.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6, and why Jess was pulled out of her universe is revealed! Please review! I don't own Supernatural. Still. Which is kinda disappointing.

* * *

All that Sam could really remember about Jessica Thomas was that she had been pulled in from another universe for no apparent reason and that she was small. It had been a hectic two years, with killing Azazel, Sam dying, Dean going to Hell, Cas, the breaking of the seals and the rising of Lucifer. Both Sam and Dean had sort of assumed that Jess was back in her universe by now. But here she was, seemingly in a fair amount of trouble. Perhaps she was more important to whatever had pulled her through than

Dean and Sam had originally thought.

By the time they were pulling up outside the address Jess had given them – a slightly seedy looking bar – it was pitch black outside. Dean and Sam got out of the car and pushed their way through the bar, looking for a back staircase like Jess had told them. Once they found it, it was a simple matter to sneak past the barmaids and up the creaking stairs. There were two doors at the top, one, which stood ajar, leading into a small and grimy bathroom, the other firmly shut.

Sam opened it and walked in.

There was a girl crouching on one of the tiny single beds, curled into a tight ball, eyes wide and staring at them. She stirred several vague memories in Sam's head, of brown hair pulled back into a tight ponytail as a head bent over a book, of brown eyes, always with shutters down behind them. But she also seemed very changed, as far as he could remember.

"Hey, it's just us, Jess. Just us," Sam said, walking slowly towards her. As he reached for her arm, Jess jerked away with a gasp, eyes flicking between Sam and Dean with incredible speed. "You called us, hey? You need to breathe deeply, Jess, look -" he gently took one of her hands and placed it on his own chest. "Try and breathe with me," he said, sitting next to her, careful not to crowd her. Demonstrating, he took several slow, deep breaths. Jess seemed to calm ever so slightly. "There we go," he said as she slowly uncurled and nodded.

"Thanks for coming," she said, voice still shaking. "They're everywhere, downstairs, in the diner, everywhere."

"Okay, Sam will stay here with you while I go and check this out," Dean said. Sam nodded and he quickly left.

"This probably wasn't what you were aiming for with six A levels," Sam said, looking around the room. "That didn't work out?" Jess shook her head, an expression that was familiar from the distant past telling Sam that she had slammed up iron walls inside herself to stop the questions. "Dean'll be back soon and if it's dangerous we'll get you out of here," he said comfortingly, wanting to put his arm around her or something but knowing instinctively that she's hate it.  
It was at that moment that there was a fluttering noise and suddenly, there was someone else in the room.

"Zachariah," Sam said, surprised enough not to immediately begin fighting. "Why're you here?"

"Because this is serious," Zachariah said, looking down expressionlessly at Jess, who told herself not to flinch away but couldn't quite manage it. "Believe me, I wouldn't have come down here if I could help it. I have been sent to collect you," he addressed Jess, "and take you someplace safe."

"Why?" Sam broke in. "I mean, you've never even met her before?"

"Jessica is of vital importance. It was no accident that pulled her from her world." Zachariah reached out towards Jess, evidently intending to transport her somewhere, but Sam caught his arm.

"Whoa there. You aren't taking anyone anywhere."

"Sam, this is more important than you realise. I have been commanded to remove Jessica to a safe place." At that moment, Dean returned.

"Zachariah, you son of a bitch! What the hell are you doing here?" he asked.

"He wants to take Jess," Sam said.

"They are my orders," Zachariah agreed gravely "And perhaps then I will come back and convince you to finally say yes."

"Why?" Dean asked, ignoring the second art of Zachariah's words.

"Because she is important."

"Why?"

"I do not know. It is information that only the archangels have been entrusted with."

"Well, she's safe with us."

"Not safe enough. Now that Lucifer is walking, armies of demons will be looking for Jessica. I am taking her to Heaven, where she will fulfil her destiny."

"Wait. My destiny? You know why I was pulled here?"

"No. I just know that your destiny awaits you in Heaven. You must come with me." And, without warning, in one blinding flash of light, Zachariah and Jess were gone, leaving Sam and Dean standing in a grimy room above a pub filled with demons.

"NO! No, Zachariah, you must take me back, take me back to Sam and Dean, I need to see them, Zachariah -" Jess was struggling in the angel's iron hold as he pulled her along a pathway in a walled garden that was so breath-taking that it had to be Eden itself.

"Jessica. If you don't stop fighting me I will make you."

"You just abducted me! Of course I'm fighting you! Let – me – _GO!" _

"I can't do that." Zachariah didn't seem at all fazed. "You are expected. I was sent as soon as we realised the severity of the situation." Jess noticed that they had left the garden and were walking towards a large palace.

"Zachariah – I – will – not – do – whatever – you – are - thinking – I – will – not – you – need – my – permission…"

"You are not requested to be a vessel. That much I know. And permission, if it is needed, can be gained. Easily." Giving up on fighting the angel's superhuman strength, Jess tried to get her feet beneath her as Zachariah didn't slow the pace at all.  
Several minutes later, they arrived outside a massive oak door. "You will not need to cover your eyes." Zachariah said enigmatically, before knocking three times on the door.

"Enter, brother," came a voice from inside, and Zachariah opened the door using his angel powers. He entered, still dragging Jess.

"Welcome, Jessica Thomas," a voice came, and Jess stopped trying to get back through the oak door and slowly turned to face the source of the voice.

In front of her was the largest throne she had ever seen. It was beyond description – just looking at it made Jess's head hurt and she couldn't even begin to start identifying the different elements that, when combined, made the one throne seem as though it contained the universe.

When Jess saw that there was nobody sitting on the throne, she was confused for a minute, before the voice spoke again, bringing to her attention the fact that the throne was not by any means the only thing that was in the large room. On each side of it stood two more thrones – smaller, the size that a human would have, but with the same tendency to make her head hurt with just the concept of them. The two thrones on the far ends were empty, but in the two flanking the main throne, two men sat.

Stretching back in her memories, both for what Ivy had told her so long ago and for the religion that she had known a lot about before she was thrown into this world – Jess knew what she was looking at. The archangels.

Now, considering Lucifer was walking Earth and very unwelcome in Heaven, and that she was sure she had remembered Ivy telling her that Gabriel was masquerading as the Trickster on Earth, which only left two.

Michael and Raphael.

If the old Jess had found herself in the throne room of Heaven, faced with two archangels and an angel, she probably would have thrown herself on the floor. However, this new Jess was much less respectful. She could remember Ivy telling her about all the angels basically being dicks, and her impression of Zachariah hadn't gone far to prove that wrong. So, while she did avert her eyes, Jess didn't start worshipping.

"The Father was right. She is much changed," Michael said, in a manner that suggested that he was talking to himself but in a voice that echoed through every corner of the room. "Jessica, your destiny awaits."

"What is it? Why me? Did you pull me into this universe?"

""Quiet!" Michael's word cut off the other questions that Jess desperately wanted to ask. "Jessica, I will tell you what I know, because you are to become of a level where you deserve that respect from me, but I will not abide with all the questions." Jess was quiet. "Two years ago, I did indeed take you from the library in London and place you here. This was done on order of Our Father, who chose you before he left Heaven for this task. He chose you to lead the armies against Lucifer, under myself, Raphael and, of course, Gabriel, if he consents. You will be the commander of our forces to stop the world descending into chaos whilst myself and my brothers work on finding Lucifer."

"What?" Jess breathed. It wasn't really meant for the archangels to hear, but they heard it anyway.

"Come, Jessica. You must remember what Ivy told you so long ago. I will fight my brother on the chosen field, it is how it is written. And Our Father wished that the world would not suffer too greatly. And, in His wisdom, He chose you."

"But…this…um….this is a great honour, but, with all respect and all that, I'm a human. I can't do anything like that, I'm not even trained as a hunter! Surely Castiel, or someone else…"

"You were chosen, Jessica. Our Father handpicked you in front of me in the Garden of Eden. When you accept this role, this responsibility, this honour, you will not remain human. Such a thing would be inconceivable. No, you will rise to the rank of Seraph. You shall have six wings and four faces in your true form, you will hold immense power.

Assuming this role will mean that you are immortal, eternal like the rest of us." Jess was utterly bowled over.

"I don't want to contradict, but are you sure it's meant to be me?" she asked, pushing a hand through her hair. "I mean, I'm just me – not special, certainly not always good, I've sinned plenty…"

"It is you. You have one week on Earth to make your decision – we would prefer that you made the decision of your own free will, although you will accept, make no mistake. Zachariah, take her back, brother."

* * *

They zapped back into the same room that they had left, Sam and Dean in exactly the same place they had been when they left. It looked like only seconds had passed. As soon as Zachariah let go of her arm, Jess sagged, crumpling to the floor where she sat, leaning up against the wall, unable to comprehend what was going on. Vaguely aware of the men talking, Jess paid little attention.

Sam let her sit for ten minutes before deciding that she needed to snap out of it. Jess had been sitting exactly where she had crumpled, not moving but for shaking and deep, shuddering breaths. He crouched down next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. Jess jerked away violently, eyes staring at Sam, unfocussed, and she kept fighting, swatting out at him, nowhere close to doing anything that could possibly hurt him, but panicking. "Hey, Jess. You need to calm down. We'll sort this out, okay? Breathe deeply. C'mon, you can do this, you're a strong girl. That's it. Nice and slow, there we go…" Sam talked Jess down from her panic until suddenly she slumped, all the tension leaving her. After a second she pulled herself up and sat down on the bed, curling into the corner.

"Why, Sam?" she said, and the small voice tugged at Sam's heart.

"I don't know, Jess. But we're gonna get you through this, okay? We'll figure this out."

"I don't want to be special. I don't want to be important. I want to be _me, _want to go back to my world, I can't do this, I'm no one special, I'm just ordinary me…"

"Shh. Listen to me. The angels aren't always right. You don't have to do this, not if you don't want to. Me and Dean, we're good at this kind of thing."

"But this isn't how it's meant to go, this wasn't in Supernatural, I'd know, Ivy was always talking about it, there was nobody called Jess in Supernatural after –" she broke off apologetically, "Zachariah was the only seraph…"

"Fate doesn't always play out the way we expect it to."

"But Sam, I just don't understand!" Jess looked so lost that Sam had to restrain himself from just hugging her to him. "So many people would be better than me at this. I've made so many mistakes, I'm not good at letting things go, I'm not ready for anything like this! I don't want to be important, Sam, I just want to go home." Jess looked more vulnerable than Sam had ever seen – he felt as though the walls she had erected between her and the world had crumbling down at this – even when she had just arrived in this world Sam had only got small glances of the person that she really was. There was quiet for a few minutes, Sam utterly at a loss at what to say. "Sam, could… could you…" Jess managed to stutter out through silent sobs that wracked her body, and somehow Sam knew what she was asking. Carefully, gently, he put an arm around her.

Jess stiffened for a second, before she relaxed fractionally and laid her head on Sam's shoulder. Surprised at this small encouragement, Sam slowly, meticulously, reassuringly pulled Jess closer to him, put his other arm around her, and hugged her properly. Again Jess stiffened, and this time it took a while longer for her to relax.

Sam was beginning to wonder just what had happened to Jess in the time between when he had last seen her and now – she had been fine with contact before. The girl had changed so much, but yet was so similar.

"Hey, hey. You'll be okay, Jess. Dean and me, we'll get the angels to stop this from happening to you, you don't need to do anything that you don't want." "You can't stop it,"Jess said in a small voice. "They're going to force me. Michael said so, they can make me. I'm only here right now because they want me to choose on my own." At that moment, Castiel appeared in the room, looking concerned.

"Jessica," he said, dropping to a crouch beside her. Jess couldn't help flinching away from him. "Dean called me and told me what has happened."

"Can I stop it?" Jess asked, in a manner that suggested that she didn't really want to know the answer. Cas looked sympathetic.

"I don't know. I really don't. I can hide you, conceal you from angels, but if they find you, then I am pretty sure that they don't need permission to do it anyway." Jess nodded and turned her head away.

"I'm not sure I can cope with eternity," she said pathetically. "You don't think that I could be turned back to human once everything's over, once I'm not needed anymore?"

"Taking an angel's Grace is an ultimate sin. Jess, I can only offer comfort. Think of the lives you will be saving, the people you will be helping. Once we have stopped the Apocalypse, you can continue to help people, save lives. You can do what I am doing, help search for God. There is so much good that you could do." And Sam was glad that Dean had called Cas, because Jess's resolve was visibly strengthening. It seemed that Cas was telling her everything that she needed to hear to reassure her. "And you will have the ability to travel between dimensions," Cas added on the end, and Jess was silent for a minute, before what he had just said hit her.

"Dimensions? Cas, are you saying that I could see my family again?" Cas nodded with a small smile.

"You will not be able to live with them. But you will be able to see them, talk to them, look over them. You can protect them from everything, make sure that they live happy lives."

"I'll do it." Jess's voice was sure. "If I can see my family again. I'll do anything."

"Jess, think about it. Are you sure…"

"Yes. I know what I'm doing Sam – well, I don't, but I don't care. I'm going to do this. How do I call Zachariah?"

"I suggest that you listen to Sam and at least take the week they have given you to decide," Cas said carefully. "It is a big decision. Eternity, as you say, is a long time."

"Call Zachariah." Jess was adamant. "Now, please, Cas." Resignedly, Cas scribbled some instructions down on a pad of paper.

"I will not stay to meet Zachariah. It – would not be beneficial. But if you go through with this, then I will see you soon, Jess."

And then he was gone.

Sam had a horrible feeling about all of this.


End file.
